Vol. LV. No. 2437. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 10, 1896. 
$1.00 PER YEAR. 
ONIONS IN THE STRAWBERRY BED. 
THE STRONG VEGETABLE HELPS OUT. 
All Done With Fertilizers. 
The field of which Fig’. 209 gives a partial view, con¬ 
tains 334 acres gently sloping to the west, and, in the 
main, quite level and free from stones. The soil of 
about two-thirds of the piece is a black, sandy loam, 
with yellow clay subsoil mixed with quicksand streaks; 
the remainder is of stiff clay, which is quite difficult 
to handle on account of crusting over and baking. 
We had some difficulty here in getting both the onions 
and strawberry plants to start. Previous crops have 
been onions, cabbage and early potatoes. Bradley’s 
fertilizers of different brands have been used in the 
past, as well as 
with this crop. 
During the 
last week in 
April, the soil 
was prepared 
b y carefully 
plowing about 
nine inches 
deep, with the 
National Re¬ 
versible sulky 
plow, which 
leaves the 
ground level 
and without 
dead furrows. 
This was fol¬ 
lowed by the 
Meeker harrow 
which prepared 
the land as 
nicely as could 
be done by the 
most expert 
raker. It was 
then rolled 
with a hand 
roller. A gar¬ 
den line was 
then drawn 
across one end, 
over which the 
roller was run, 
which made a 
sharply defined 
guide line for 
the marker 
which followed 
This marker 
was made of a 
strip of tough, 
springy ash 
%-inch by 8 
inches wide, 
andlOfeetlong, 
on the upper side of which two handles like thills and 
a crosshead were attached ; on the under side three- 
cornered pieces of wood were nailed crosswise like 
runners, as shown at Fig. 210. The distance from a 
to e is 10 feet; from a to c, 5 feet; from a to b, 30 
inches ; from b to 1 and 2 each, 12 inches ; from d to 3 
and 4 , the same distance. The marks made by a, c 
and e were for strawberry rows, while the marks of 
b, 1 and 2 and d , 3 and 4 were for onion rows, thus 
throwing the field into rows of berries five feet apart, 
with three rows of onions between each two rows of 
berries, and making the onion rows 12 inches from 
each other and 18 inches from the berries. 
The sowing was done with a Planet Jr. hill dropper, 
with fertilizer attachment, sowing about five pounds 
of seed and 300 pounds of complete vegetable fertilizer 
per acre. The first of the field was sown with the 
fertilizer below the seed, the rest above, but all cov¬ 
ered with earth. No difference was noticed. A one- 
horse corn planter with fertilizer attachment was 
used to distribute the fertilizer in the strawberry 
rows. About 300 pounds per acre of fertilizer of the 
same grade and make were used. Upon the presser 
wheel of the corn planter, spuds were bolted 27 inches 
apart, which made marks in the row by the aid of 
which the men planting were able to set with great 
regularity at that distance. Care was taken to have 
the roots separated, set straight down, and the soil 
well packed. 
The variety of onions used was a very fine selection 
of Globe Yellow Danvers, which I have been perfect¬ 
ing for several years. Of strawberries we set chiefly 
Marshall (which are shown upon the left of the cut), 
while the rest of the field are Brandywine and Wm. 
Belt. The after culture, until about July 15, was 
given by running a Z. Breed hand weeder over both 
onions and berries every time the least crust formed, 
and two light hand weedings among the onions. Up 
to that date, the weather was very dry, and had we 
not kept an earth mulch on continuously, a failure 
would have resulted. 
About the date named, we began “bedding in” 
runners, which consisted in arranging these runners 
as shown at Fig. 211, by which it will be readily seen 
that each runner has plenty of room to grow, and 
does not cross or interfere with any other, making 
the after-hoeing much easier. It also runs the last 
plants of the season (tips) out into the path where 
they are harmless. We aim to leave the plants from 
six to eight inches apart each way, knowing that too 
many plants are just as bad as so many weeds. We 
also aim to stop the runners at the edge of the out¬ 
side onion rows, which makes the rows three feet 
wide, with two-foot paths between. In bedding, we 
use a homemade tool like a large putty knife, with 
which we slightly raise the ground sidewise, slip the 
plant in, and press the earth back on it. Thus each 
plant is set about one inch deeper than it would have 
naturally rooted, which makes it more hardy and 
productive. As all plants do not grow and run 
equally well, and at the same time, we were obliged 
to go over the bed several times. Great care was 
taken to pre¬ 
vent a crust 
forming, by 
using onion 
hoes among the 
young plants 
which hoes, 
being narrow 
and having one 
end forked, 
could be work¬ 
ed in among the 
runners. The 
latter part of 
August, at 
which time 
the photograph 
was taKen, we 
began pulling 
the onion crop. 
In pulling, we 
threw the three 
rows of onions 
between the 
two rows of 
berries over in¬ 
to and with the 
onions between 
the next two 
rows of berries, 
thus leaving 
one-half the 
rows clear to be 
worked with 
the horse as 
shown in Fig. 
209. After the 
onions had 
dried for about 
a week, they 
were carried 
out in crates 
and topped on 
a piece of land 
formerly occu¬ 
pied by a crop 
of early potatoes. The remaining rows were then 
cultivated. The yield was 1,060 bushels of large 
onions, not counting seconds. While this yield was 
satisfactory, about 750 bushels per acre for the land 
actually used, it might have been much larger had 
the seed not failed to grow in some parts of the clay. 
On the whole, it has been a very satisfactory crop. 
As to the probable yield of this field of berries, 
nothiDg with certainty can be said, except that a long 
winter, a cold spring, and all the many ills that the 
strawberry is heir to, are before them, but they are 
now in a fair way to do a great battle for themselves. 
If they do as well as the bed just beside them, from 
which the plants (Marshall) were taken last spring, 
did during the pact fruiting season, we shall be 
abundantly rewarded. Those mentioned yielded at 
ONIONS AND STRAWBERRY PLANTS GROWING IN THE SAME FIELD. Fig. 209. 
